Being a Pro: Here I am!

By Steve Fleming

The successful business is known to all of its potential customers. The only way to do this is to let them know you exist. You have to reach them and say, "Here I am!". Only then will you have the opportunity to show them your product or service. So how do you reach all these people? You certainly can't go out and meet every one of them face to face (not today anyway). So, what do you do? Advertise. Marketing. In case you were not aware of it, those are the magic words in the capitalist marketplace.

Unfortunately, many people consider advertising and marketing a "necessary evil". They think it is something you must do, but they are not sure why. In their minds they can never equate the results with the advertising. Or if they have done advertising and marketing with no results they decide that advertising does not work. What they do not realize is that the particular ad copy or place did not work. Advertising does work. Any major national company is an example. Does McDonald's advertise? How about Ford? Why do Home Depot hardware stores do more business than Joe's down the street? They advertise. Landscaping companies are no different.

Okay, now we're all going to advertise. Where and how? Since everyone has a slightly different landscape business there is no one answer. Look at the alternatives available to you. Look at the costs. Decide which medium is best based upon how many people (that are interested in your landscaping product or service) the medium reaches. Is the medium interesting? People have to look or listen before they see or hear your message. Then there is the copy itself. This is the most important aspect of advertising. If the ad is no good it will not matter where you place it.

There are several alternatives available to you for producing good advertising copy for your landscape company. You can do it yourself. If you do it yourself then get a few good books on ad layout and design. You can let the salesman or art department of the publication help you design your ad. Remember, they want that ad to work as much as you do. Or you can hire an advertising or marketing agency. This can be expensive, but they will design a whole marketing program for you.

Another, less expensive, method than the agency is a service that provides camera ready ad kits. These are sets of ad slicks (ad copy ready to go to the printer) for just about everyone in the Green Industry. These ads provide a space for your own logo, name and address. One advantage of this system is that they provide the same continuity of "look" that an ad agency would. The ads all have a stylized border system that ties them together. The copy is strong, yet simple. This allows a smaller ad to be as effective as some ads that are much larger. This also saves you money on your ad space. The ads themselves are not expensive and provide an affordable way to have a very professional looking landscape advertising campaign. There are several companies that provide this service for landscape companies and a quick Google search will find them.

Another method of presenting yourself is with a brochure. Brochures are necessary for direct mail or for leaving with a potential customer when you make the bid. The brochure leaves a lasting, professional image of your company with the client while they are deciding who to hire. The brochure is your silent salesperson.

When I owned my landscape maintenance company I relied heavily on our brochure. When arriving to do a maintenance bid (commercial or residential), after looking over the property and listening to what the client had in mind, I would hand them our brochure to look over while I did some more checking and figuring. By the time I was ready to present the bid (a written bid with costs and charges filled in the blanks of a pre-printed form) the client had already "sold" themselves on our company by reading the brochure. I didn't have to do any selling, the brochure did it for me.

That is what a good brochure should do. Sell the job for you. But now we are back to the same problem as with advertising. How do we put together a good brochure (without selling the company to raise the money)? Again, there is the professional who can help you. Either an advertising agency or a public relations firm could do the job, but it is not cheap. If you can afford this route it is well worth it. A less expensive way is to find a good printing company that has its own art department. They will help you to design your own brochure.

As with ads there are also companies that do nothing but design general purpose brochures that you can imprint your logo, name and address on for a very attractive price. The American Landscape Contractors Association has this service for its members. Their brochures are in full color and are designed for almost all aspects of the service end of our industry. Several companies also provide this service. These are full color, high gloss brochures.

Proper advertising and marketing will bring you the leads. Proper follow up with a brochure and a sales call will bring you the business. In business there is always someone working on capturing a larger share of the market. If you are not professional and always ahead of the competition they will be taking their new shares from you. Good luck!

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